Calligraphy Classes are Back!

Some of you may recall that we used to offer calligraphy classes, up until the summer of last year. This was a really exciting part of the bricks and mortar shop - the word calligraphy comes from the Greek, meaning beautiful writing, and of course being a fountain pen nut, how could this not be something we wanted to share. We stopped holding calligraphy classes at our 906 shop due mostly to space constraints. If you've been in our shop, you know it's not too big. As our business got bigger and we started carrying more products (especially over the winter as we needed to stock higher levels of ink due to shipping issues), the boxes of stuff began to get a little unwieldy. Having a small space meant we couldn't run classes while the store was open, and if classes ran over time, we would have a bit of a traffic jam with customers coming in and students moving out. Another problem with having such a small space is the limited number of students we could have at one time, so if we happened to get cancellations, especially at the last minute, we had a tough time making the classes successful. However, all that has changed! With this new space at 250 Carlaw, Unit 105, we're ready to begin offering classes again. The space will be big enough to have classes near the back, while other customers can still come in and browse or talk shop. And! We are so excited to secure Mark Lurz to teach our first classes. Mark received his formal calligraphy training at the Arts & Craft School in Basel Switzerland, and is founding member of the Calligraphic Arts Guild of Toronto. As you can see in the examples below, Mark has beautifully mastered many of the Western scripts and hands. Mark has been teaching classes for over 40 years, so this ain't his first rodeo. He normally offers his classes in Bolton, and so we're pretty happy he has agreed to come into the city to share his experience and his skills here. I'm hoping to share a little more about Mark with you over the next few weeks. 

You can sign up online here, or you can pop by the 906 shop anytime up until we move. New workshops will be posted in the workshop section of our website. The class is $75, and it's three hours long. There will be some coffee, tea, and treats, and a fifteen minute break halfway through the class. Supplies are provided, so just come ready to flex those fingers! We've got a few more classes in the works, including a pointed pen class. I'm hoping to announce them in the next few weeks, along with more dates for this introductory class. We've heard from a lot of you that having classes scheduled far in advance means that you can plan to come if you're coming into Toronto for a trip from out of town and the timing lines up for you. Intermediate and advanced classes will be offered as we get going. We're hoping to try offering different styles of writing and lettering, so if you happen to know any lettering artists or "modern" calligraphers or any other style you can recommend, please consider passing their name on to us! You can send us an email at info at wonderpens .ca. This is just another reason to get excited for this new space on the East End. Hope to see you there!